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Walking upright may seem like the most natural thing to do for most people, but it's not that easy if you get injured. Thankfully, there's some technology that can help that isn't as limiting as a wheelchair or a pair of under-arm crutches. And if you want to get some super-human abilities, some gadgets out there can help anyone run faster (with some awkward-looking stilts).

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Technology is becoming ever more essential in our daily lives, but as long as the devices we use are still separate things outside of our bodies, we haven't yet fully adapted to technology. However, as technology gets a bit more advanced, it won't seem too strange to start implanting technology in ourselves. If you wear contact lenses, maybe you think you're a pioneer. But there are far more extreme examples, and some folks are really taking it to the next level.

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All kinds of technophiles are looking forward to new and better-looking smartwatches and wearable devices that don't make a person look like a member of the Borg. Everyone has seen gadgets getting smaller and more fashionable over time, so it's not just foolish optimism to hope that wearable tech will be amazing and cool in a few short years. Some cool wearable stuff is being developed right now, but it doesn't look too fashionable yet. Here are some examples.

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Technology has largely helped make our lives better. Sure, there are a few cases where technology has caused some major problems, but it's not easy putting the genie back in the bottle. Mark Zuckerberg might want to keep pushing the internet to more and more people, but there are some folks out there who want to go even further. Why limit ourselves to sharing technology with other humans? Let's give some technology to other animals. Here are just a few examples of people giving animals some technological help.

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"Terminator"-like cyborgs may still be just a thing of science fiction, but modern technological advances in bionics are enabling people to regain or enhance their ability to do everyday things that most people take for granted. Here are just a few examples of some bionically enhanced people (and animals).

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Science fiction about bionics grossly underestimated how much advanced prosthetics actually cost to develop. The Six Million Dollar Man was off by at least a couple orders of magnitude. But bionic limbs have been getting a lot better over the years, and more Paralympic athletes are becoming famous for their achievements all the time. Here are just a few inspiring links about people and technology making awesome advances in bionics.

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Digital cameras are getting better all the time, but our natural vision only seems to degrade over time. (Almost everyone over forty years old will suffer from some kind of presbyopia.) There may be technological solutions to improving human vision, but so far, projects like Google Glass are more about augmenting vision, not necessarily improving a user's sight. Here are just a few interesting projects working on useful eye prosthetic devices.

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A few years ago, Oscar Pistorius was not allowed to participate in the Olympics because, as a double amputee, his prosthetic legs might have given him an advantage over athletes who weren't using prosthetic legs. Prosthetic technology doesn't stand still, so it's understandable that the Olympic committee didn't want to allow devices that could give future athletes extremely unfair mechanical advantages. Here are just a few interesting prosthetic developments that might change the perception of "disabled" persons.

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The six million dollar man was grossly underpriced. But someday the technology to to augment human limbs and senses could come down in costs. There are plenty of engineers working on robotic prosthetics. Here are just a few examples.